Inklove
by ifoundwaldo
Summary: A FaridMeggie romance. not very according to the story, sorry. I hope it's still good. Lots of new adventures, drama, etc. Please read and review, i need critical commentary before i put up the next chapter!
1. Chapter 1 Cut Short

Ink_love_

**Intro:** I haven't yet finished Inkspell, (I have already read Inkheart), I just got a horrible urge to write more about Farid and Meggie. Sorry if not all I say is truthful, as I haven't yet finished reading. So this pretty much is a continuation of sometime after the chapter "Cosimo" when Meggie and Farid kiss. Also, Mo is obviously better… so this isn't very truthful, sorry, it's just fitting my story.

**Disclaimer:** i do NOT own any characters, settings, etc. etc. i only own the idea.

Was it just his imagination, or did Meggie's eyes seem even more beautiful in the light of a fire? He sounded like Dustfinger, he knew. Although it seemed true—the fire danced in the reflection of Meggie's eyes, causing both the eye and fire to appear all the more spectacular. Farid was a lucky boy, he knew. He had so many things in his life to be thankful for. He was thankful he was pulled out of his own story and into this new, exciting one. He was thankful he had found Meggie. He was thankful for Dustfinger, whom he now referred to as his father. In many was this was true—Dustfinger taught him to play with fire and they were even beginning to think and act alike. Farid loved Dustfinger.

Meggie looked up at Farid, as if knowing he was thinking of her. He blushed. How often his face betrayed him! Why couldn't he control his emotions as easily as Dustfinger? Meggie smiled, as she always did when he blushed. She seemed to enjoy the fact that he couldn't hide his emotions from her. "What are you thinking about?" she asked, a hint of humor in her eyes.

Farid decided to tell her the truth. "You." He replied. He loved making her smile. He loved her smile.

"What about me?" Was it just Farid, or where her eyes shining like a star in the desert of his old story? The stars there were bigger and brighter than in the Inkworld and in Meggie's world.

"Your eyes. They're so pretty, like large diamonds." This time it was Meggie's turn to blush. She smiled at Farid and leaned towards him, stopping when her face was only inches from his own.

"Now how do they look?" she asked him, half smiling. Farid hoped Meggie couldn't hear how load his heart had started beating. By way of answer, Farid closed the space between their faces with his own. How natural it had felt the first time they had kissed. Almost like this was how it should be. Farid and Meggie. Farid knew that he would never like anyone else in his life. He didn't know how he knew; it was just something in his gut every time they were together, even when they were apart. He hoped Meggie felt the same.

Now was the time. Tell her, Farid urged himself after they had pulled away from each other. He had never told Meggie that he loved her. He didn't know how she would react. This was the first person he had ever really truly liked, but how did he know if it was love or not? He was coward, he knew, just like Dustfinger.

Farid was saved the trouble of trying to get the courage to tell Meggie because her father, Silvertongue, came outside of the farmhouse and over to the little fire pit where Farid and Maggie were sitting. No doubt to spy on them and make sure nothing was going on. Fathers. Silvertongue knew quite well that Farid would never do anything to Meggie.

"Why hello young lovers." Silvertongue said by way of greeting. He was obviously trying very hard to sound as if he were just coming in to say hello. Farid saw the way he glanced at them, making sure nothing was going on that shouldn't be.

"We're not doing anything, we're both being very good, you can go now." Was all Meggie answered. She didn't even look at Silvertongue; she just kept her eyes on Farid's face. He felt his face getting hot and tried very hard not to let it show that her looking at him had any effect on him. Was he getting soft, as Dustfinger constantly told him? Having a girl looking at him caused him to become flushed in the face? Although Farid had to admit, he did like it.

"Of course you are," Silvertongue said, trying too hard to add humor to his voice. Fathers always try too hard. "It's a beautiful evening."

"It is. We were just admiring it." Meggie turned to her father and glared at him, although Farid guessed she was still smiling. She never stopped smiling anymore. Silvertongue obviously took this as a hint to leave, so with one last glance at the pair he turned nervously and slinked back to the house.

"Now, where were we?" Meggie said, turning her attention back to Farid. She leaned in again towards Farid and kissed him, but Farid pulled away. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking hurt. She always did when he pulled away from her.

"Nothing. Well, not nothing…it's just I have a lot on my mind. There's… something I've been meaning to…er…tell you for quite some time." Farid began uneasily. He knew what to say. _I love you._ It didn't seem that hard until you had to say it. Meggie was looking at him expectantly. Farid hoped she would feel the same about him. "I think I… what I mean is that…" he couldn't find the right words. While he was still pondering how to put to words his feelings, there was the sound of horse hooves on stones. That could mean only one of two things—Brianna was coming or Dustfinger was coming. Seeing as the first one wasn't likely as of late, it must have been Dustfinger.

Farid and Meggie stood up when the horse and rider came near the fire. Farid had been right—it was Dustfinger. He went directly to Farid, which was a bit of a squeeze on horseback, and motioned for him to stand up. "What is it?" Farid asked, looking nervously into Dustfinger's face.

Dustfinger hesitated, looking from Farid to Meggie. "We have to go." He said quietly. It seemed to pain him to say these words. Farid wanted so badly to question Dustfinger, ask him why, where they were going. But something in Dustfinger's face hindered him. The way Dustfinger was looking at him, as if something awful had happened. Farid didn't want Meggie to be worried or frightened.

He turned to Meggie and quietly took her hand. "I have to go." He whispered.

"Then I'm coming as well." She answered, looking him in the eye. Farid looked away.

"No, you're staying here. Please." His voice was almost begging. He didn't know what it was Dustfinger needed, but to be coming on horseback to get him couldn't be good. Meggie obviously knew that as well. "You know I need to go watch out for him. I can't let…it," he glanced at the bag on Dustfinger's back, which presumably held either Jink or Gwin, one of which would be the death of Dustfinger, "happen. Not now. Promise me you'll stay here. It won't be long."

"How do you know?" Meggie asked. Farid just answered by giving her a quick kiss. He held her face in his hands for a couple of seconds before turning to the horse and mounting awkwardly.

"Goodbye, Meggie," he whispered as they rode off. He didn't know when they would be back. He didn't know anything, yet he still trusted Dustfinger. He looked back only once at Meggie, and she was already growing smaller and smaller in the distance. '_I never got to tell her.' _He kept thinking. _'Meggie, if you can hear me, I love you!'_


	2. Chapter 2 Ombra

**Intro:** I've passed the part in the book where Cosimo decides he is going to go to war, but I don't know if they really do, and if they do I don't know what goes on. So obviously this is going to be untruthful from the book, but again I apologize. I'm framing it to suit my story. Also, my time and distance is different of that which is in the story, as you will soon find out.

"Dustfinger, where are we going?" They had been riding in silence for well over an hour. Farid knew not to bother Dustfinger for words—bothering didn't work with this man. But enough was enough. Farid had waited in silence but still Dustfinger did not speak, so he had taken matters into his own hands.

It took Dustfinger ages to respond. "I might as well be truthful with you, boy. We're going to war. Cosimo, or that's to say this new prince that says he is Cosimo, has decided to end things between him and the Adderhead once and for all. To him, the only way to do this is by slaughtering everyone." After that he was silent again. Farid stared at the back of Dustfinger's head in shock. War? Now? What did this back-from-the-dead Cosimo think he was doing!

"Why does that mean we have to fight? Why all of a sudden have you given any care to any of them?" _And why are you riding a hors_e?

Dustfinger said nothing. There was obvious pain on his face, Farid could tell even from behind him. It surprised him; Dustfinger was the master at hiding his emotions. "Dustfinger, tell me!" he was pushing his luck, he knew, but that didn't stop him from trying to get answers.

"The Black Prince is fighting. I'm not letting him fight alone, and I know you would want to be with me. I don't care about _them_, I care about him." Farid was taken aback. Dustfinger wasn't usually this honest with him.

"What about the horse?"

Dustfinger smirked. "It's the Prince's." He stroked the horse's neck. "I've actually become quite fond of it."

Farid almost laughed but bit his tongue. Dustfinger was being truthful with him, and he didn't want to ruin the moment. "So where are we going?" he finally asked.

"To Ombra. We're meeting the Black Prince and Cosimo and joining with the soldiers and other townsfolk that joined up to fight."

They arrived at Ombra in a couple of minutes later. There was tents set up inside the castle walls—tents of all shapes and sizes, covering every inch of possible space. Farid and Dustfinger got off the horse and allowed a guard to take them to where the Black Prince was. He was directly outside of the castle door, having refused to stay in the castle. "I'm one of them and therefore I'm staying with them," he had said when a guard had pestered him.

Farid and Dustfinger were staying in a tent with the Prince, although Farid insisted he would be sleeping out on the ground. Why be confined inside a tent when you could gaze at the stars? Besides, it was crammed enough in there with two people. While Dustfinger and the Prince talked, Farid thought of Meggie. Would he see her again? If he died in the battle, would he really be dead since this wasn't his story? Could he be brought back to life like Meggie had brought Cosimo back? Would she want to bring him back?

Dustfinger, who had suddenly become as straight and un-moving as a statue, snapped him out of his daydream. Farid looked up and saw Cosimo towering above him. "Welcome, Black Prince. I thank you for joining us."

"Ah, so you remember my name?" the Prince replied, looking amused. "I heard tale that you couldn't remember hardly anything. You got the Inkweaver filling your mind with memories. Has he told you of me already?"

Cosimo smiled. "Word does travel fast around here, doesn't it? No, the Inkweaver hasn't told me of you yet. It was my wife that told me." The Inkweaver. Of course, that old man Fenoglio would be assisting his own creation. Farid scowled. He didn't particularly like the old man, especially not after he disapproved of him and Meggie.

"I hope she told you all good things." The prince answered, smiling. "I'm happy to be here helping you, although I don't agree with this war. Why put everyone in such danger? But I would dare not question you, Cosimo. It's better to have you than the Adderhead ruling us."

"Indeed." Cosimo agreed. He glanced around at them all before turning abruptly and heading back into the castle. The Prince sighed.

"This isn't Cosimo. He has the looks and the name, yes, but not the spirit," the Black Prince announced. _How right you are, _thought Farid. _If only you knew. _"Well, I'm off to go talk to some of the peasants. Dustfinger, you're welcome to join me." The Prince looked expectantly at Dustfinger, who looked at Farid.

"You go, I'll stay here." Farid answered. Dustfinger nodded and stood up, following the Prince away. They left Farid to think. He missed Meggie. He wished he had been able to say more of a goodbye to her. Would he ever be able to tell her he loved her, or would it be to late? Would he come back and find her with another man?

When he kissed her she didn't pull away. That had to have meant something. She obviously cared for him. What was love anyway? Was it something as easy to give, as words are easy to read off a page? Could you read love into someone the way Silvertongue could read people into and out of books? Farid doubted it. Something in his gut told him love was real and true, not something made up out of an old man's head. And he truly believed that what he felt for Meggie was love. He just hoped she felt the same.


End file.
